POSCO and General Electric signed an MOU on cooperation in five areas of industry on May 31 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul, the steel giant announced on June 1.

The comprehensive agreement covers cooperation in the areas of power generation both in Korea and abroad; the development of steel products and equipment for use in the energy industry; joint cooperation in the infrastructure construction projects of emerging nations; cooperation in ICT; and the development of personnel through education and the development of management model benchmarking, the steelmaker said. 

Vice President Park Ki-hong for POSCO and President Kang Sung-wook of GE Korea signed for their respective companies while Chairman Chung Joon-yang and GE Chairman Jeffery Immelt watched the signing.

Under the MOU, POSCO and GE will seek to clinch power generation projects both in Korea and abroad with POSCO slated to take charge of construction and management of power plants, while GE will provide generators, boilers, and other power generation equipment. 

The two partners will also collaborate on the development of steel equipment in the gas and oil business sectors and the production of the steel equipment.

POSCO officials said the two partners will also cooperate on the development of infrastructure projects in emerging nations, taking advantage of GE’ s technologies for infrastructure, financial capability, and global network, and POSCO’ s experience working on plant projects overseas.

The agreement will enable POSCO to use GE’ s global network and financial knowhow in joint infrastructure development projects in emerging countries. Analysts said the combination of GE’ s invisible assets and POSCO’ s competitive edge in engineering, procurement, and construction will create great synergy. 

The two firms have also agreed to share each other’ s best practices to improve their corporate culture, human resource development and employee training. 

POSCO said in a statement that the partnership with GE is a reflection of the former’ s “long-term growth strategy” centered on expanding to high-end steel and plant industries. 

The two companies will open a joint committee to regularly check the operations of the partnership. 

POSCO has maintained a strategic partnership with GE over the last few years and the two are partners in various projects.

POSCO, struggling with weak demand and oversupply, acquired Daewoo International in late 2010 to strengthen its presence in resources development and power plant markets.

Immelt, who landed here May 30, will leave for the United States after meeting with Korean government officials. 

POSCO has also dedicated its CGL (continuous galvanizing line) plant in Maharashtra State in India on May 28 capable of producing 450,000 tons of the steel product annually. In attendance were a slew of dignitaries both from POSCO and the local government including Chairman Chung Joon-yang of POSCO, Korean Amb. to India Kim Joon-keun, Bharatshet Gogawale, a member of the state assembly of Maharashtra State, and Ahn Byung-shik, vice president of POSCO Construction, among others.

Late last month, POSCO signed another pact with GE, in which the American company will provide advanced zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology to POSCO’ s CGL plant in Maharashtra, India. POSCO is planning to produce steel using GE’ s technology from the second quarter of 2013.

The CGL plant will produce steel plates for autos and electronic equipment to prepare for the increased demand in India of such products when its car industry and home appliance industries grow.  #